Corn and tomatoes

In addition to seeing friends and being near many places to have the boat repaired, the great thing about being in Annapolis is that there is a farm stand right down the road from the marina that sells sweet white corn and ripe tomatoes -- which we feasted on last night. Yummmmm.

We went to the movies and are enjoying doing some of the things we haven't done in awhile. We also visited the commissary and exchange at the Naval Academy. And I actually joined a gym for the few months that we are here. Living on a boat sometimes (though not always, I do admit I have been lazy) means lack of exercise, happy hours, and eating out a lot. It also feels like we are on a (very) extended vacation, so I have "treated" myself to a few too many ice creams. Getting back to the gym has felt good these past few days - although I am out of shape!

Today we are going to Alexandria again. We are renting out our condo -- unfurnished -- in October and are trying to sell a lot of our stuff. Today we are meeting someone to look at the juke box and other things that we have advertised on Craig's List.

Here are some pictures of our view from Port Annapolis. We are on an outside slip (facing Back Creek) but we're stern to and tucked away between two very large power boats. The marina is quiet during the week; I don't think there are more than a handful of people who live aboard. Last weekend it was much more crowded. Back Creek is great. It is close to downtown Annapolis, but without the hustle and bustle.

Mary Elizabeth goes topless

Mary Elizabeth is without a dodger. Bill did lots of boat chores yesterday He took down the dodger (the canvas that covers the cockpit) and sent it to a sail maker to fix a tear on the top. This is one of the advantages of being in Annapolis where there are so many resources and places to have things repaired. Once the canvas was removed Bill spent a lot of time polishing the stainless underneath, which was badly rusted.

Not having a dodger has made it very hot to sit topside, but it is cooling off. It is almost September after all-- time has flown by!

The other big project that Bill worked on yesterday was replacing the windlass. The spring in the "up" switch had corroded and stopped functioning. Island Packet sent us a replacement part and Bill was able to switch them out successfully. The first time the windlass (which lowers and raises the anchor) stopped working reliably was in Bermuda. Then, Bill was able to cut a piece from one of my rubber stamps to use as a temporary spring. Now we have a permanent fix, which we are happy for since we are looking forward to (easily) anchoring in the Wye River and other places in the Chesapeake.

We have also been enjoying watching TV!!! Dave and Molly have generously lent us their direct TV, which they helped us set up on Sunday. What great friends.

Having fun in Annapolis

We had a great weekend in Annapolis. On Friday we rented a car and drove to Alexandria to pick up a car. Bill and I have decided to spend the rest of the summer in Annapolis, so having a car here at the marina is ideal. We confirmed with Port Annapolis Marina this morning that they have slip space for us through the end of October. We will still cruise the Chesapeake, but we will have a home base for awhile. It is great because our friends are close.

Saturday was filled with errands. We had dinner at Rockfish, a favorite.

Sunday Dave and Molly drove down from Georgetown. We explored a tiny bit of Annapolis and then came back to the boat. Katie, Rico, and Alex came from Alexandria, and Joe and Nancy stopped by for a few minutes. We had dinner and enjoyed the night. Alex is getting big!

Back in Back Creek

We left Baltimore around noon today. We had a nice ride from Baltimore to Back Creek in Annapolis. We are docked at Port of Annapolis, which happens to be the marina right next door to where we kept both Mary Elizabeths (the Hunter and the IP485) for several years. It was kind of strange for both of us to be back and not be in "our" slip next to Joe and Nancy. But here we are, and it is lovely. We are in kind of a strange slip - it is actually for a much larger boat so our lines are tied weird. It will work though. We are here until Monday.

We had a very nice dinner at Tsunami, our favorite sushi restaurant on the planet, with Joe and Nancy. It was of course a perfect evening. Bill had a tour of their new boat (I had already seen it) which is awesome.

Not really sure of our plans over the next month and a half. We are going to pick up our car in Alexandria tomorrow and decide from there. We aren't sure if we are going to cruise the Chesapeake or if we are going to stay in Annapolis for the rest of August and September. Whatever we do, we'll have a blast and that is all that counts. It is nice to be back in Annapolis with our friends. We miss Joe and Nancy!!! And this has been a great night of catching up (even though we ate too much!)

Today Andrea, Bill and I went to lunch and then the Aquarium. It was a fairly nice (though very expensive and very crowded) aquarium. There was a huge shark tank (we saw a Tiger Shark and pointed it out to Andrea who was with us when we were snorkeling), a big ray tank, turtles, fish, an outside "tropical rain forest" atrium, etc. It was another perfect day / night. The Sox won again, and tonight we sat in an "all you can eat" section of the park. Tomorrow we are going to hang around on the boat and relax / get sun until Andrea's afternoon flight. And Bill and I might get a visit from Dave and Molly, which would be awesome. Our last Sox game is tomorrow at 7:00.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the past few days.

Baltimore, MD

We are in Baltimore at the Inner Harbor Marina. Bill and I have stayed here before when the Red Sox have been in town playing the Orioles. Downtown Baltimore is really nice. Our slip overlooks the harbor, which is full of water taxis, dinner cruises, duck tour boats, and even a "pirate" ship.

There is an aquarium, a science museum, and a long boardwalk that features ice cream and other treats, etc. Saturday we arrived and hung around preparing for Andrea's visit. She flew into Baltimore on Sunday afternoon. We spent the rest of the day on the boat catching up. Sunday night Bill, Andrea and I went to Aldo's in little Italy in Baltimore. Bill and I had been there before with Joe and Nancy and we knew we had to go back. It was delicious.

Monday we got a late start. Andrea and I walked around and explored a little more (we saw the hotel - and the fans - where the Sox are staying, but didn't catch sight of any of the players....) before we walked to Camden Yards for the game. The Sox won, and our seats were awesome. We were on the third base line and it was a beautiful night. Same as before, Sox fans outnumbered Baltimore fans 10 to 1.

Up the mast... sort of

For awhile now, Bill has wanted someone to go up the mast to polish some stainless that has rust on it. There were two options... one, Bill could go up, which he has done before. This would involve me getting him up and down using the electric winch, however, which I have not done before. Option two was for me to go up the mast. I am not afraid of heights, and I trust Bill to get me up and down safely. So, we vied for option 2. Yesterday afternoon, after we polished the stainless on the deck of the boat, I got in the bosun's chair and up I went. I only made it to the first set of spreaders though (about a third of the way up the 64 foot mast). It is scary up there! Here are a few pictures from my sort-of adventure. We'll finish the chore in Annapolis when someone can help us.

We stayed in last night, played Yahtzee, watched a movie, had a big pasta dinner and experienced a pretty sunset on the river.

Full Circle.....

sv Mary Elizabeth entered the Chesapeake Bay today nine months, one week, three days, and one hour after leaving the Bay for the Caribbean last November. Over the past nine + months, Mary Elizabeth has been in four countries and has traveled easily over 4,000 miles. She has been visited by many of our friends and family from home and lots of others who we have met along the way. A few things have needed repair, but all in all she is an incredible boat. She has kept us safe in bad weather, sailed beautifully, crossed the Gulf Stream twice, sailed past the Statue of Liberty, and has been good to us in every way possible. We have enjoyed yahtzee games in the cockpit, meals on the grill, books in the sun, happy hour with cruisers, snorkeling in the afternoons, amazing sunsets, and exploring each and every place we have been. It is nice to look back as we have come full circle - and to look forward to all of the new exciting adventures to come. We are very fortunate indeed.

Georgetown, MD

The Chesapeake is as hot, still, and muggy as we remembered it being. The water is brackish and brown, but the scenery is stunning. There are amazing homes right on the water with lots of land.

We ended up at Georgetown, MD on the Sassafras River. We are on a mooring at the Georgetown Yacht Basin enjoying the beautiful day. It is quiet and lovely. Since we are without a tender (although hopefully not for long) we have plans to grill tonight. Tomorrow we have decided to go on a quest for some Maryland crabs - although we are unsure of what is around these parts. Bill hasn't been here since he was in college; for me it's my first time.

Our plans have changed slightly. We were supposed to go to Rock Hall after our trip to Baltimore with Andrea. We have decided (and Island Packet graciously agreed to accommodate us!) to put the work done on the boat off until September when we are in Florida visiting Bill's family. We'll leave boat (which is going to be out of the water so we can't stay on it during that time anyway) in Rock Hall while we are spending time in St Petersburg. So after Baltimore we will be exploring all of the places in the Chesapeake that we haven't yet seen (and visiting some of our old favorites too!) between now and the next few months. And around the middle of October -- after the Annapolis boat show, Katie's bridal shower, a few Redskins games, seeing friends, and other things we have planned -- we'll start to head south to the Carolinas. We have to stay north of Savannah, Georgia until November 15th. Plans for the winter season are still up in the air.

Delaware

We left New Jersey around 7:45 on Wednesday morning. We took sv Mary Elizabeth around Cape May, into the Delaware Bay, Delaware River, and finally the C&D Canal. We stayed the night about 1/2 way through the Canal in Chesapeake City, DE and arrived about 6:00 pm. This was one of our longer days. We experienced a little rain, but nothing major. The Canal is sleepy, although very pretty and green. The water is finally turning that brownish Chesapeake Bay color again, so we know we are getting close to home.

Bill watched the Sox (on the computer) and I watched the Olympics (they had cable TV at the marina) and called it an early night. We are currently motoring through the second half of the Canal. For the first time in awhile, we don't have a destination tonight (not yet, at least). We want to be close to Baltimore so on Sunday when Andrea flies in (yippeeeeee!) we have a short day.

For more pictures of the canal, click here.

Wildwood, New Jersey

Dave and Molly are here in Wildwood, New Jersey, which is one town over from where we are staying at Cape May. Dave picked us up and gave us a tour of Cape May before we went back to Wildwood. The four of us spent the afternoon at the boardwalk in Wildwood. It was a lot of fun. We went on the Ferris Wheel, did paintball, ate lots of crappy boardwalk food (Molly had her first corn dog) and had fun. The boardwalk is l-o-n-g, has three amusement parks, a water park, and is right on the beach. It was a beautiful day. We went back to the boat, Dave and Bill played Yahtzee, and Molly made me stunning bracelet. Check out her stuff at http://www.enchanteddesignsbymolly.com/. She really is talented. It was so nice to see them!!!!

For more pictures of Wildwood, Click Here.

We decided to stay another day in Cape May. Today we got up and went in search of a farm stand that someone told Bill about. Sweet yellow corn and tomatoes are in season. After about an hour of walking around beautiful Cape May (which is full of B&Bs, beaches, etc.) we found Ducky's Farm stand. We got corn, tomatoes, squash, fruits, marinades, etc. Yum.

Tomorrow we will leave Cape May, head up the C&D Canal, and stay overnight in Chesapeake City, Delaware. We are almost back to the Chesapeake Bay where we will spend the next month or so.

Leaving Atlantic City

We left Atlantic City around 11:30 on Sunday after carefully looking at the weather. There was a series of storms scheduled to go through. The water was calm as we left AC and we put the sails up for a bit. As it started to get darker and darker, Bill took the sails down. The wind picked up to 25 knots or so. We thankfully missed all of the storms, but we did experience the big seas (5-7 feet) and strong winds as a result of the bad weather. The skies were sunny, but we got rolled around pretty good. Here are two very short videos of the waves taken before the waves got so big that we had to hold on with two hands to keep from being tossed off our seats (don't worry, we had our harnesses on). These videos don't do justice to the beamy seas that we experienced for five straight hours....

We got to Cape May, New Jersey around 6:00 pm on Sunday. Bill got some takeout and we called it an early night. We do have cable here, so we have been able to watch some of the Olympics, which has been great.

Lady luck....

Friday was an awesome day. We had a lazy morning, got some sun, gambled a bit. Around 5:30 we took a cab over to the Borgatta – which is an incredible place. Neither Bill nor I had ever been there before, and we both agree that it is one of the nicest casinos out there. It was a much different vibe than Trump. A younger crowd, everyone dressed up, hip restaurants and bars. We picked up our tickets at will call and then (without a reservation for dinner) tried to find somewhere to eat. We lucked out and ended up getting two seats at the sushi bar at one of the neatest restaurants I have ever eaten at. It was full of energy and we ate perfect (although slightly overpriced, but what did we expect) sushi, edemame, and sake. We finished up dinner with enough time before the show started to have drinks at one of the bars that featured a live band – and again, it was great.

The concert was a dual headline – Counting Crows and Maroon Five (which we didn’t necessarily know beforehand). There was confusion at what time the show started. The ticket site said 8:00 pm, but when we picked up the tickets, the sign said 7:30. We got to the venue around 7:30 or so and it was practically empty. The opening act was Sara Barellis, who I wasn’t too familiar with beforehand, but ended up really liking. The big surprise was the Counting Crows came on next; they opened for Maroon Five. The set was OK (a mix of new and old) but it was a very mellow show. Maroon Five was a little more upbeat, but they received lots of booooos when they walked off the stage because there was a scuffle in the front row. They came back, the show continued, and all was well. All in all, it was an OK show. I think we both had higher expectations for Counting Crows, especially after waiting so long to see them (this was the first time seeing them for both of us). It was definitely a fun night. We took a cab back to the boat and called it a fairly early night (for Atlantic City, anyway).

Saturday we had lunch at the outdoor restaurant at the marina. There was a live band and lots of people dancing, so we stayed and listened to all three sets. Afterwards we came back to the boat and hung out. Saturday night we had Chinese food and then gambled. Bill decided to leave the Black Jack table when he was up and went back to the boat. I stayed and played the slots. I was heading to the door to go back and stopped at a Deal or No Deal machine – penny slots! Well, I hit it big. Bigger than I thought was possible on penny slots! The cashier actually told me that someone won 1 million dollars on nickel slots the day before. So I guess I haven’t been playing those games in vain after all. I was v-e-r-y excited to come back to the boat and tell Bill!!!!

Atlantic City

The ride (motor - there was only between 2 and 5 knots of wind) to Atlantic City was nice. The water was like glass, even though we were in the ocean. Not too much to see on the Jersey Coast except for a lot of beaches. Until Atlantic City emerged off in the distance.....

We had a bird hitch a ride on sv Mary Elizabeth for about two hours. He would land on the jib sheet, hang out for awhile and then fly away. Two minutes later he would be back. He liked the free ride, I guess.

We are staying at Trump Marina, which is at the Trump Casino off the strip. The Borgatta is next door, which is great since we are going to see Counting Crows and Maroon Five there tonight - which I am very, very excited for. We tried to see if the timing would work for tickets when we were in Boston, but they were playing there earlier in the summer. When we figured out the dates for when we would be in Atlantic City, I looked up what entertainment would be here, and was very pleasantly surprised to realize that Counting Crows would be playing!!!

So last night, we got settled into the marina (there are very few [less than five] transients here) so we have the dock to ourselves (there is a separate transient dock). We had dinner and then gambled. Bill didn't do so hot at Black Jack and did only a little better at Craps. I had my standard loser night at slots and Roulette. Oh well, we have another day to hit the jackpot.

The weather is nice, and I have the laundry in the wash here at the marina now. We are going to do a little provisioning and maybe hit the boardwalk / beach tomorrow before we leave on Sunday.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Hello Brielle, NJ

Bill and I left Jersey City and the beautiful cityscape of NYC around 10:00 this morning in a light fog. We had another interesting day in the sense that we were in New York Harbor for the first part of our trip and went right by both Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

The rest of the trip along the Jersey Coast was uneventful. There was light wind so we motored and got to Brielle, New Jersey around 3:30. Brielle is on the Manasquam Inlet and is very pretty (and quiet). At first the small marina where we are staying put us in someone's slip who is away for the night. But after we tied up and got on shore power, the marina manager came by and said she didn't realize we were a sailboat and we would have to move ASAP. When the tide goes out, there is only 4 feet of water - we would be on the bottom. So Bill moved the boat and we are now on the fuel dock, which happens to be about 30 yards from a railroad bridge that goes up and down every 1/2 hour or so (complete with a loud siren). We are in the same place where we were in 2004 during our trip from Boston to Annapolis.

We are only here for the night and will go have dinner at one of the local restaurants before leaving tomorrow for Atlantic City.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that sv Mary Elizabeth has a new SOG (speed over ground) record -- 12.0 knots! It happened yesterday when we were going through Hell Gate with the crazy current. This surpasses the previous record of 11.8 knots when Bill, Al and Ross were going through the Gulf Stream on their way from Bermuda to Cape Cod.